Full-floating holder



April 3, 1951 M, BENJAMlN ETAL 2,547,518

FULL FLOATING HOLDER Filed NOV. 30, 1949 Patented Apr. 3, 1951FULL-FLOATING HOLDER Milton L. Benjamin, Shaker Heights, and Franklyn E.Winnen, Cleveland, Ohio; said Winnen assigner to said BenjaminApplication November 30, 1949, Serial No. 130,262

12 Claims.

The present invention relates generally as indicated to a full floatingholder and has for one of its main objects the provision of a holderwhich utilizes an entirely new principle to compensate for both angularand parallel misalignment between the tool and the work spindles ofmachine tools, for example.

It is another object of this invention to provide a full floating holderin which the pressure required to hold the parts in adjusted position isapplied through an elastic support sleeve made of rubber or rubber-likematerial.

Another object is to provide a holder of the character indicated inwhich accurate alignment between a tool adapted to be held in the holderand a workpiece to be operated upon by said' tool and carried by thework spindle can be eiTected in a most eiiicient manner to increaseproduction and to reduce scrap and tool cost and wear to a minimum.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent as the followingdescription proceeds;

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said invention,then, comprises the features hereinafter fullyV described andparticularly pointed out in the claims, the following description andthe annexed drawing setting forth in detail certain illustrativeembodiments of the invention, these being indicative, however, of but afew of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may beemployed.

In said annexed drawing:

Fig. 1 is an exploded View of a collet type holder, some of the partsbeing shown wholly or partly in cross-section;

Fig. 2 is a cross-section view on an enlarged scale of the parts in Fig.1 in assembled relation;

Fig. 3 is a cross-section view of a oating holder shank of the straightbushing type as distinguished from the collet type illustrated in Figs.1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a cross-section view of a floating holde shank of the tapershank type; and

Figs. 5 and 6 are cross-section views of modied support-sleeves. Y

Referring now more specifically to the drawing and rst more particularlyto Fig. l, the rst part at the left-hand side is the main shank orhousing I which is provided with an elongated shank portion 2 adapted tobe secured to the tool spindle of a metal working machine. Said housingI is further provided with an enlarged tubular exteriorly threadedportion 3 within which is formed a conical seat 4. At diametricallyopposite sides of said seat and extending axially 2 beyond the base ofsaid seat 4 are a pair of cylindricalpins 5 press-fitted into saidhousing. Said pins 5 are also disposed within the enlarged portion 3 ofsaid housing.

Next is a series of three members B, I0, and I5 insertible into housingI and respectively having a universally tiltable and driving connectionwith said housing and transversely movable and driving connections witheach other along angularly disposed paths. v

The rst of said series of members is a drive plate or ring 6 which isformed with a spherical protuberance 'I adapted to engage in linecontact with the conical seat 4Hand formed with a radially extendingange 8. Said ange 8 is formed with four equally spaced peripheralnotches 9, two of which notches are adapted to loosely lit over theprojecting ends of the pins 5 to enable driving engagement betweenhousing I and saidring B and universal tilting of said ring while inengagement with seat 4.

The second or intermediate one of said series of members 6, IIJ, and I5is a ballY retainer ring I D carrying a plurality of circularly arrangedballs I I therein each of diameter slightly greater than the thicknessof said ring I0 and extending beyond opposite faces of said ring. Theballs II are held in place so as to lie in a common plane and so to berotatable in said ring as by peening over the opposite faces of saidring I0.

Said retainer ring Itl is formed with diametrically opposedv and axiallyextending lugs I2 adapted to loosely fit within the other pair ofnotches 9 in said drive ring 6 to enable driving of said ball retainerring I0 'through said drive ring and adjustment of the latter along apath transverse to its axis. Said ring I0 is further formed with anotherpair of similar diametrically opposed lugs I4 which extend axially inthe opposite direction and out of phase with the lugs I2, as shown.

The third or last one of said series of members 6, I0, and I5 is afloating holder shank I5 of tubular form threaded at one end as shownand 'formed with a ii'ange I6 at the other end, such 'flange beingformed with apair ofv dijaimetrically opposed notches I'I adapted toloosely fit over lugs I4 of said ball retainer ring I0 where'- by saidholder shank I5 may also be adjusted transversely of its axis but alonga path at right angles to the `path of transverse adjustment of the ballretainer ring III. The iit of the notches I 1 over the lugs I4 inadditionprovidesa driving connection with ball retainer ring IIJ. c

'Said holder shank I5 is provided with a bore containing coaxial andaxially spaced conical seats I8 and I9 comparable with the seats formedin the shank member disclosed for example in the Milton L. Benjamin etal. Patent No. 2,358,300 which issued on September 19, 1944.

Next after said series of members is a spacer ring and a support sleeve2| both having a loose fit over the threaded portion of the holder shankI5, said spacer ring 20 being disposed to engage the side of the fiangeI'I which is opposite to said ball retainer ring Iil. Said supportsleeve 2| is of rubber or rubber-like material and, as will hereinafterappear, pressure is adapted to be applied through said sleeve to clampthe drive ring 5, the ball retainer ring Il?, and the holder shank I5 indesired tilted and transverse adjusted positions Within said Vhousing I.

Next in Fig. l is a contractible collet '272 lor a form such as thatdisclosed in the aforesaid Benjamin et al. patent provided with conicalfaces 23 and 2li engageable with the conical seats I8 and I9respectively in said holder shank I5. As apparent, endwise movement ofsaid collet 22 into said holder shank I5 will eiiect contraction of saidcollet so as to vgrip a tool or the like therein.

Next, is an internally threaded adjusting nut 25 which is adapted to bethreaded into the portion 3 of housing I, said nut being formed with aninturned `flange 25 having a loose iit'over the threaded portion ofholder shank I5. As apparent, tightening of said nut 25 ontoY housing Iwill effect clamping of the previously described series of .members 5,I0, and I5 in a desired adjusted position by pressure applied throughthe elastic support sleeve 2|` Next, is a nose ring 2'| and a nose-piece28, the latter being threadably engageable with the holder shank I5whereby the nose ring 21 Will engage the outer end of collet 22 to eiectthe desired endwise movement and contraction of said collet to grip atool therein.

The afore-described parts are shown in assembled position in Fig. 2 witha reamer R gripped in collet 22. For sake of illustration, `housing 'Iin Fig. 2 is shown in both angular and parallel misalignment with a workspindle 29, the axes of said housing I and said spindle 25 beingrepresented by the lines and 3| respectively and the axis of said drivering 5 being represented by the line 32 to show the angular and parallelmisalignment.

With the adjusting nut 25 tightened by hand or with light wrenchpressure, the tool lR may readily be shifted `angularly and transverselyto bring its axis into perfect alignment with the axis `3| of the workspindle 29, as shown, such shifting being made .possible by the drivering 6 being universally tiltable when in engagement with conical seat 4in housing I and by the ball retainer ring I0 and the holder shank I5being transversely movable with respect to their axes along angularlydisposed paths. In this -partly assembled position the balls II `areengaged between the flanges' and I5 of said drive ring 5 and said holdershank I5 .to facilitate transverse movement ofthe retainer ring and'holder shank and to function more `or less as a thrust bear- Withthetool R in proper alignment as aforesaid, nut V25 may then be tightenedto the 'tool R in such properly adjusted position.

The tightening of nut 25 as aforesaid exerts pressure on elastic supportsleeve 2| which 4 by the usual wedge pin (not shown).

4 through the pressure thus applied on spacer ring 2i), flange I5 ofholder shank I5, and balls II of ball retainer ring ID on said drivering 6 effects firm seating in line contact of spherical surface I withcone seat 4.

Although the pressure around support sleeve 2| may vary somewhat due tothe angular misalignment, but, for the most part, the pressure is moreor less equalized or balanced due to the behavior of the rubber orrubber-like material from which said support sleeve is made in a mannersimilar to pressure applied upon a confined fluid. In this way, thefrictional resistance to movement of the drive ring 6 relative tohousing I is greater Ithan the tendency of said support ysleeve toreturn to its normal undistorted shape, this being attributed to thehigher unit pressure of the line contact between said housing I and saiddrive ring 6 than that applied on said support sleeve. With regard toparallel movement, the tool R may yet resiliently rpartake of a limitedamount of such movement as permitted by the transverse clearance betweensupport sleeve 2| and holder shank I5.

It is to be understood that the reamer Ris herein shown for illustrativepurposes only and therefore other tools such as taps and the like may besimilarly .gripped in collet 2v2 as well as Workpieces which it isdesired to align with tools or other parts of the machine. Obviouslyother forms of gripping devices may be used.

For example, the holder shank may comprise a straight bushing 33 asillustrated in Fig. 3 and provided with a 1set screw 34 for applyinggripping pressure on the shank .of the tool or said holder shank may beof the taper shank type as shown in Fig. 4 comprising a shank 35 looselyextending through the bores in ball retainer ring IU and drive ring 6 topermit desired tilting and transverse movements and provided with atapered bore 36 adapted to receive a correspondingly tapered shank ofthe tool or the like. The transverse opening 31 through the shank 35enables convenient removal of the tool In such case, housing I will alsobe provided with a transverse opening in register with the opening 37aforesaid. In both of the modications illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 theflanges I6 thereon correspond With the flanges I6 on holder shank I5 andthe diametrically opposed notches I1 correspond with like notches formedin holder shank flange I6.

In the modication illustrated in Fig. 5, two spacer rings 20 areprovided, one located on each side of support sleeve 2|, and as evidentit may be desirable in some instances to omit both of these spacer ringswhereby said support sleeve will directly engage flange I5 of holdershanks I5, 33 or 35 as the case may be.

In the modication illustrated in Fig. 6 spacers 38 are provided withaxial flanges 39 to restrict distortion of support sleeve 49therebetween and therearound only in a radially outward direction so asto always assure a transverse clearance with holder Shanks I5., 33, or35. Here again, one or both of the spacers 38.may be omitted and if onlyone is provided, the -axial ange 39 thereof may be correspondinglylonger.

In any event, the support sleeve 40 is arranged to have axial pressureapplied thereon between the inturned ange 2G of adjusting nut 25 andflange I6 of holder shank I5, 33, or 35 whereby such pressure in turn istransmitted through the remaining parts II and 6 to eiect tightengagement of drive ring 6 with conical seat 4 in substantially linecontact.

It should be borne in mind that conical seat 4 and sphericalprotuberance l may be reversed, that is, the spherical surface may be inthe form of a protuberance in housing I and the conical surface may bein the nature of a flare mouth in drive ring 6, thus yet permitting theuniversal Vtilting of said drive ring with respect to housing i.

Likewise seat 4 may be of spherical form with said drive ring 6terminating in a sharp edge engaging such seat in line contact andpermitting universal tilting of said drive ring. Moreover, variousmodifications, too numerous to mention, may be made in the cavity inwhich the support sleeves 2| or 40 and spacers 2|l or 38 are disposedjust so long as pressure applied on said support sleeves in turn exertspressure to hold the drive ring 6 in a desired adjusted tilted positionand to irictionally clamp the holder shank I5, 33, or 35 and ballretainer ring IB in desired adjusted transverse positions to cure bothangular and parallel misalignment between housing i and work spindle 29or the like.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed,change being made as regards the detailsI described, provided thefeatures stated in any of the following claims, or the equivalent ofsuch, be employed.

We therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as ourinvention:

1. In a floating holder for tools and the like, the combination of ahousing, a series of at least three members respectively having auniversally tiltable and driving connection with said housing and havingtransversely movable and driving connections with each other alongangularly disposed paths, an elastic member adjacent the last of saidseries of members, and a clamping nut movable with respect to saidhousing for applying pressure on said elastic member and thusresiliently clamp said series of members in adjusted tilted andtransverse positions with respect to said housing. l

2. In a oating holder for tools and the like,

the combination of a housing, a series of at least three membersrespectivelyhaving a universally tiltable and driving connection withsaid housing and having transversely movable and driving connectionswith each other along angularly disjusted tilted and transversepositions with respect to said housing, said housing and the first ofsaid series of members being formed with interengaged conical andspherical seats forming such universally tiltable connection.

3. In a oating holder for tools and the like, the combination of ahousing, a series of at least three members respectively having auniversally tiltable and driving connection with said housing and havingtransversely movable and driving connections with each otherv alongangularly disposed paths, an elastic member adjacent the last of saidseries of members, and a clamping nut movable with respect to saidhousing for applying pressure on said elastic member and thusresiliently clamp said series of members in adjusted tilted andtransverse positions with respect to said housing, said housing and theiirst of said series o f members being formed With interengaged conicaland spherical seats forming such universally .tiltable connection, suchseats being engaged substantially in line contact whereby to eiectivelyretain said rst member in adjusted position upon clamping thereofthrough said elastic member as aforesaid.

4. In a noating holder for tools and the like, the combination of ahousing, a series of at least three members respectively having auniversally tiltable and driving connection with said housing and havingtransversely movable and driving Connections with each other alongangularly disposed paths, an elastic member adjacent the last of saidseries of members, and a clamping nut movable with respect to saidhousing for applying pressure on said elastic member and thusresiliently clamp said series of members in adjusted tilted andtransverse positions with respect to said housing, an intermediate oneof said series of members carrying a plurality of balls respectivelyengaged with the members on opposite sides whereby to facilitatetransverse adjustments.

5. In a floating holder for tools and the like, the combination of ahousing, a series of at least three members respectively having auniversally tiltable and driving connection with said housing and havingtransversely movable and driving connections with each other alongangularly disposed paths, an elastic member adjacent the last of saidseries of members, and a clamping nut movable with respect to saidhousing for applying pressure on said elastic member and thusresiliently clamp said series of member in adjusted tilted andtransverse positions with respect to said housing, the last of saidseries of members including means for gripping a tool or the likewhereby by tilting and transversely adjusting said series of members thetoolmay .be positioned with its axis in a predetermined relation to saidhousing.

6. In a floating holder for tools and the like, the combination of ahousing, a series of at least three members respectively having auniversally tiltable and driving connection with said housing and havingtransversely movable and driving connections with each other alongangularly disposed paths, an elastic member adjacent the last of saidseries of members, and a clamping nut movable with respect to saidhousing for applying pressure on said elastic member and thusresiliently clamp said series yof members in adjusted tilted andtransverse positions With respect to said housing, the drivingconnection between the rst of said series of members and said housingcomprising loosely intertting projections and notches which enablerelative tilting movement of said housing and said rst member.

'7. In a oating holder for tools and the like, ,f the combination of ahousing, a series of at least three members respectively having auniversally tiltable and driving connection with said housing y andhaving transversely movable and driving consaid members and between thesecond and third of said members.

8. In a floating holder for tools and the like, the combination of ahousing, a lseries of at least three members respectively having auniversally tiltable and driving connection with said housing and havingtransversely movable and driving connections with each other alongangularly disposed paths, an elastic member adjacent the last of saidseries `of members, and a clamping nut movable with respect to saidhousing for applying pressure on vsaid elastic member and thusresiliently clamp said series of members in adjusted tilted andtransverse positions with respect to said housing, the last of saidseries of members extending through said elastic member and havingtransverse clearance therewith.

9. In a floating holder for tools and the like, the combination of ahousing, a series of at least three members respectively having auniversally tiltable and driving connection with said housing and havingtransversely movable and driving connections with each other alongangularly disposed paths, an elastic member adjacent the last of saidseries of members, and a clamping nut movable with respect to saidhousing for applying pressure on said elastic member and thusresiliently clamp said series of members in adjusted tilted andtransverse positions with respect to said housing, and a spacer memberbetween said elastic member and the last of said series of members.

10. In a floating holder for tools and the like, the combination of ahousing, a series of at least three members respectively having auniversally tiltable and driving connection with said housing and havingtransversely movable and driving connections with each other alongangularly disposed paths, an elastic member adjacent the last of saidseries of members, and a clamping nut movable with respect to'saidhousing for applying pressure on said elastic member and thusresiliently clamp said series of members in adjusted tilted andtransverse positons with respect to said housing, the last of saidseries of members extending through said elastic member and havingtransverse clearance therewith, and a spacer member including an axialIiange within said elastic member to preclude closing of such transverseclearance upon application of pressure to the latter by said clampingnut.

11. In a oating holder for tools and the like, the combination of ahousing, a tool gripping assembly having a universally tiltable andtransversely movable positive driving connection with said housing, aclamping nut having threaded engagement with said housing, and anelastic member engaged between said nut and assembly for resilientiyclamping said assembly in adjusted tilted and transverse position withrespect to said housing.

12. In a floating holder for tools and the like, the combination of ahousing, a tool gripping assembly having a universally tiltable andtransversely movable positive driving connection with said housing, `aclamping nut having threaded engagement with said housing, and anelastic member engaged between said nut and assembly for resilientlyclamping said assembly in adjusted tilted and transverse position withrespect to said housing', said tool gripping assembly comprising aseries of at least three members, one

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,222,466 Raulton Apr. 10, 19171,309,217 Rathram July 8, 1919 2,042,648 Ziegler June 2, 1936 2,392,039Gideon Jan. l, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 99,133 SwedenJune 11, 1940 122,174 Great Britain June 19, 1919

